One beak, two wings ... and four legs

A duckling has been born with four legs at a Warrawee Duck Farm in Copythorne, Hants. The rare mutation has left the bird, called Stumpy, with two legs behind the two he runs about on.

John Durnell, head of conservation for the West Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, said: 'I have never heard of anything like this in my life, and I have been birdwatching for more than 30 years.'

The creature would not survive in the wild, but Nicky Janaway, who runs the farm in the New Forest, said: 'We will make sure he's OK and hopefully he will carry on running around and using the extra two legs as stabilisers.'

A duck with four legs was born in Queensland, Australia in 2002, but died soon afterwards.